1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for providing customer services using a network-based database and more specifically to an application that collects and stores, for example, customer, vendor and product data, accepts service calls from customers, routes the calls to an appropriate customer service center, and triggers a debiting of a customer account.
2. Description of the Related Art
Without limiting the invention, its background is described in connection with customer support services that are rendered after the purchase of a good. Other services, however, are also supportable in accordance with the present invention.
Most makers of distributed goods provide product support services after a product is purchased. Often, a customer is charged a warranty premium, in addition to the purchase price of the good, to obtain support. For many potential customers, post-purchase support are critical to the overall purchasing decision. Thus, an organization's capacity for efficient and effective customer support may impact its bottom line.
In a typical scenario, customer support requires the customer to provide an assortment of information, such as the model number, the product type, the date of purchase, the sales location, and other information pertaining to a particular sales transaction, in order to obtain product support. For example, vendors commonly require a customer to register their product in order to receive customer support (e.g., by way of a mail-in product registration card, a time-consuming phone call to the vendor, or a post-purchase, online registration process). This process requires considerable time and effort on the part of both the customer and the vendor and can lead to customer frustration, limiting the number of customers who actually register their products. As a result, valuable customer and product information is never captured by the vendor, and customer dissatisfaction with the product and or vendor may be increased.
Typically, these customer support services are provided through a toll-free telephone number that enables a customer to reach a customer support agent at a call center. For example, a vendor that sells a software product may provide a 1-800 number with the product for their customers to call in order to obtain support for the software product. When the customer calls the 1-800 number, the call is connected to a technical support agent at a call center. Because many customer's fail to properly register their product purchase with the vendor, the support agent often must verbally collect information from the customer before having sufficient information to provide satisfactory support. This process may further irritate a customer already frustrated by the need for support in the first place. Providing customer support services is also typically a great expense for a vendor. The vendor must cover the cost of the customer support agent's time and the cost of the toll-free call. In addition, considerable time and resources are required to collect and manage current information about the product and the customer. Often, there is no tracking of the time spent serving the customer or of other call characteristics that would be useful in managing the customer support process. It would be advantageous for the vendor limit the amount of free support it provides or to provide customer support on a paid basis. Consequently, improvements in customer support methods and systems can help improve customer relations and reduce the costs of customer service.
Prior art systems and methods for vending and delivering customer service and support depend primarily on having the customer call directly into a product vendor's service call center. The integration of such customer service calls with appropriate service call centers, however, has not been addressed. Moreover, the process of automatically routing customer service calls to an appropriate service center based on product type and model number has been, until the present invention, an unpracticed method of delivering customer support. Ideally, a customer could dial into a toll free customer support network and reach a qualified support specialist who is familiar with the specific product purchased by the customer.
Consequently, need exists for a universal application to maintain an information database used for integration of customer services with the product registration and the delivery of customer support services. Both vendors and customers would derive tremendous benefits from such an application. When purchasing a product, it would be desirable for a customer to acquire a credit/debit card entitling them to obtain a specified amount of product support from the vendor, so that customer, product, and vendor information could be associated with the card at or prior to the actual purchase. Likewise, it would be advantageous for a vendor to manage customer support costs and improve customer service business processes through enhanced information gathering and database capabilities.